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Cultivating Possibilities
Inspired by the work of Alison Orchard
Emily
December 14, 2024
(Artwork images credited to Alison Orchard)
I met Alison in her quirky studio and gallery space at Applegarth farm on the outskirts of Grayshott. I heard from an Instagram post that there were bleating goats here. Peering out of the back window, today the goats seemed content, quietly enjoying one of the brighter autumn days. The gallery space is packed with art of all sizes. After a few minutes of browsing, I’m grateful for the opportunity to sit in her comfy armchair to absorb my surroundings as we chat. |
Nearly two hours later, as I reflected on our conversation while driving home, one particular theme played on my mind.
The way in which Alison had built a belief system around the idea that art could be her career. It reminded me of the saying, “you are who you surround yourself with”—the idea that our perception of what’s possible is shaped by our environment.
A book that explores this concept is The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, who argue that limitations in personal and professional lives often come from how we frame our experiences. As they put it, “The frame through which you view the world determines what you see.” There’s a great article by James Clear that summarises the book here.
In talking with Alison, it was clear that throughout her life she has actively taken opportunities that have built her skills, expanded her network, and deepened her connection to the art world. While self-doubt and external expectations often weigh down aspiring artists, Alison’s story shows how exposure to other successful artists and environments, combined with real-world gallery experience, enabled her to envision a future in art. |
Two key moments, both during her teenage years, shaped her perspective on what might be possible.
She shared, “My mum took me to St. Ives School of Art when I was fourteen or fifteen. I did a week’s general course and stayed with Roy Ray and his wife. He was a very well-established artist and ran the painting school down there. I also had a fantastic A-level teacher who would take us all out into the woods to paint and draw. We learned bronze casting, welding, and painting.” He was an artist himself, so beyond just teaching her art skills, perhaps more importantly, she gained first hand insight into how life could look as a professional artist.
While the early seeds of becoming an artist were planted during her experiences in St Ives and at college, after her foundation course at Epsom, Alison made the ‘safer’ choice and pursued a degree in illustration. This decision set her on a more commercial path in illustration and graphic design.
However, after several years climbing the career ladder, she found herself promoted into management and away from the creative parts of the role. It was only when she took a career break to have her children, that she decided to take the opportunity to dive fully into painting. “I completely reassessed things,” she recalled, “and thought to myself, right, I’m either going to do it now or not at all.”
Soon after this turning point she added another building block to her belief system.
“I got a part time job at a really fantastic gallery which had relocated from London and showcased high-end work. Just learning the ropes and figuring out how galleries and the system works, trying to immerse myself more in the fine art world and away from the commercial art world. That was really useful because I was seeing it from the gallery perspective and watching all the different artists coming in with their portfolios and how they approached it. It was a really good education for me.”
Alison shared how her strong work ethic and drive kept her committed to painting during those early years, even with young kids. Every spare moment was an opportunity to paint, even if it was just for an hour while the baby slept. When she had the chance to show her work in the gallery and sold several pieces in the first week, the door opened to a potential career as an artist. |
Cultivating for success
As well as building a solid belief system around the idea of being an artist, Alison has also designed her business to allow her art practice the flexibility it needs to thrive.
Her body of work ranges from more representational landscapes and seascapes to fully abstract pieces. Over the years, she’s established strong relationships with galleries that represent her work, each catering to unique audiences and preferences, some liking her very abstract pieces and others preferring her looser seascapes.
Alison draws inspiration from the natural landscape around her studio and the coast. Having lived in this area for over two decades, she recalls, “when I first moved, I was a bit obsessed with the Devil's Punch Bowl, the heather, and all the colours in the landscape and big skies.” When talking about her representational work she describes it as a transcendent feeling to look at the sketches and paintings completed plein air, being able to remember exactly what it felt like to be there and what the weather was like. |  |
Back in her studio, she works on a large scale, painting with the canvas mounted on the wall. She describes how these sessions become more about the paint, the surface and the process of painting, describing the work as “very gestural and physical”. She paints while standing up explaining how “all that physicality and energy is being transferred into those brush marks.”
Again, this rather strategic decision to work with several galleries, each favouring their own style of her work, has allowed her to keep the work exciting and give her the freedom to work on different things.
This is also why she made the decision to take on a studio space which could be a public gallery space.
She tells me, “I like the relationship where I get to meet the person who’s buying the work, talking to them and finding out where it’s going. Helping them find something they’re excited about and seeing that reaction from them.” Alison stresses the importance of having artwork priced at different levels, offering more affordable options alongside her larger pieces, which having her own gallery space allows her to do. |
She’s built lasting relationships with commission clients over the years, sharing, “I get to do some really exciting big paintings that I wouldn’t normally do. With some clients, they’ll say, ‘I’m thinking of something with maybe red and some gold in it, but I’ll leave it up to you.’ With these I can play, and within that freedom, I can explore a certain direction within the boundaries to create something that excites both of us.”
Watching Alison talk about her journey, I saw a grounded combination of ambition, resilience, and work ethic that balances her calm, gentle nature.
“I’m really ambitious about where I want to go and what I want to do in terms of improving my painting and doing something that I can’t even imagine doing right now. Going beyond what I think I’m capable of. That’s what drives me. But I have to keep it in perspective that I’m working with galleries, running my own gallery, teaching occasionally, and I’ve got two kids and a family as well, which is important to me. I’m not willing to give that up. So it’s trying to balance all of those things.”
The conversation made me really consider the environment I have surrounded myself with and whether my ‘framed perspective’ can be improved. Often we can find ourselves getting swept along on this journey. Every now and again it is useful to check in with ourselves and make sure that we are being intentional with the decisions we are making and conscious of the belief systems we are defining for ourselves.